Nats prospect watch: Jackson Cluff brings "quick twitch" swing to table
Nats prospect watch: Jackson Cluff brings "quick twitch" swing to table
Byron Kerr
Nationals
Following his first half-season in the minor leagues, former BYU shortstop Jackson Cluff got a chance to work out during instructional league and then into spring training with the Nationals. The left-handed hitter was a sixth-round draft selection in 2019. Cluff is rated as the No. 20 Nats prospect in the MLBPipeline.com top 30, Cluff, 23, is from Meridian, Idaho, and played for the Cougars in 2016 as a freshman and again in 2019 as a sophomore. In 2019, he slashed .327/.518/.458 with 20...
Home confinement re-watch: 2019 World Series Game 3
Home confinement re-watch: 2019 World Series Game 3
Mark Zuckerman
Nationals
Has there ever been more excitement and anticipation for a Nationals game than there was on the evening of Oct. 25, 2019, when the World Series came to D.C. for the first time since 1933? This was an event some weren't entirely sure would ever take place. Then throw in the not-insignificant fact the Nats went into Game 3 up two games to none on the supposedly superior Astros, and you had the perfect convergence of joy, intensity, nostalgia and celebration on South Capitol Street. The whole...
Taking a look at the Arizona plan
Taking a look at the Arizona plan
Steve Melewski
Orioles
Say this for officials of Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association: They seem very determined to play baseball in 2020. That may prove to be ambitious, but the will to get it done is clearly there. The plan that ESPN and other outlets reported on yesterday included all 30 teams playing their games in the Phoenix area in parks with no fans. Players and other essential personnel would basically be under a form of quarantine, going back and forth from a hotel to a...
Leftovers from Ripken Q&A
Leftovers from Ripken Q&A
Roch Kubatko
Orioles
The Orioles intend to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Cal Ripken Jr.'s record-breaking 2,131st consecutive game. Their promotional schedule includes the distribution of bobbleheads on Sept. 6, and other plans to honor him were under discussion prior to the shutdown due to the coronavirus pandemic. The schedule was released in early February. So much has changed. ESPN aired 2,131 last night and Ripken watched it for the first time from start to finish. He told me yesterday that he'd stumble...
Chef José Andrés will distribute free meals from Nats Park
Chef José Andrés will distribute free meals from Nats Park
Doug Miller
Nationals
The Nationals are lending celebrity chef José Andrés a really big place to cook. During the baseball hiatus prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic, World Central Kitchen will distribute from Nationals Park thousands of free meals prepared in two of its large kitchens. The Spanish star chef and owner of gourmet restaurants in Washington and other cities across the United States founded the organization after an earthquake devastated Haiti in 2010. Uber Eats drivers will ferry the food to D.C....
"Orioles Classics" #TBT: Walk-off this way ...
"Orioles Classics" #TBT: Walk-off this way ...
Pete Kerzel
Orioles
Social isolation is a lot more palatable when you have "Orioles Classics" on MASN at your fingertips. And you don't even have to stay six feet away from the TV screen, though the oft-repeated warning from my youth - "You'll ruin your eyes!" - springs to mind. This week on "Orioles Classics," we've got some of the best walk-offs in recent vintages of Orioles history, including the final game of the storied career of Cal Ripken Jr. There are some other special games in the rotation: a...
Ripken on Twitter, Strike Out Hunger campaign and more
Ripken on Twitter, Strike Out Hunger campaign and more
Roch Kubatko
Orioles
Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. has been intrigued with the idea of opening a Twitter account. He just needed a reason to do it beyond the interaction with fans, something he did tirelessly in person during a 21-year major league career. Most notably in 1995 as he closed in on Lou Gehrig's record for most consecutive games played. Ripken found his excuse and, as usual, it tied into his desire to help other people. Using his new account (@CalRipkenJr.), which already was approaching 3,000...
#TBT to "Nationals Classics": The moment you've all been waiting for
#TBT to "Nationals Classics": The moment you've all been waiting for
Doug Miller
Nationals
You've been spending way more time at home than usual and your television set is working overtime. Normally at this time of year, MASN would be bringing you live Nationals games, but maybe you've been catching some of the wide variety of sports competition (taped back before the world went on lockdown) that MASN presents daily: auto, motorcycle, air and speedboat racing, Bundesliga soccer, PBA bowling and poker tours, to name a few. Of course our bread and butter is baseball. So while our...
Nats prospect watch: Antuna healthy again
Nats prospect watch: Antuna healthy again
Byron Kerr
Nationals
It was great to get an update regarding shortstop Yasel Antuna after the young Nationals prospect was out of almost all games due to injury for more than a year. The 20-year-old Antuna lasted only three games last season for Rookie-level Gulf Coast League after playing in 87 games at low single-A Hagerstown in 2018. MLBPipeline.com rates Antuna as the No. 12 Nats prospect in their 2020 top 30 list. He is a 6-foot infielder that hails from the southern coastal area of Peravia, Dominican...
Home confinement re-watch: 2019 World Series Game 2
Home confinement re-watch: 2019 World Series Game 2
Mark Zuckerman
Nationals
Honest opinion: What was your reasonable, best-case scenario for the Nationals in the first two games of the World Series? Maybe you had a pie-in-the-sky dream of snatching both games from the Astros and returning to D.C. flying high, but realistically you just wanted to see them win one of two on the road. Especially when those two games were started by Gerrit Cole and Justin Verlander. Right? Well, after beating Cole in Game 1, the Nats returned to Minute Maid Park the next night for Game 2...